THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 
AFTER  TWO  YEARS 


By  RAYMOND  B.  FOSMCK 

Formerly  Under  Secretary  General  of  the  League  of  Nations 


Reprinted  from  The  Atlantic  Monthly 
through  the  courtesy  of  the  Editor 


Issued  by 

League  of  Nations  News  Bureau 

2702  Woolworth  Building, 

New  York  City 


Digitized  by  the  internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/leagueofnationsOOfosd 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 
AFTER  TWO  YEARS 

BY  RAYMOND  B.  FOSDICK 


TO  its  enemies  in  the  United  States  the 
League  of  Nations  must  seem  an  uncon- 
scionable time  a-dying.  For  more  than 
two  years  it  has  tenaciously  clung  to  life  despite 
repeated  prophecies  of  approaching  demise.  Oc- 
casionally indeed  its  actual  death  has  been  an- 
nounced— once  by  no  less  a person  than  the 
President  of  the  United  States — and  prepara- 
tions have  been  begun  in  high  places  to  celebrate 
the  obsequies. 

But  somehow  the  League  still  lives.  More 
than  that  it  shows  a surprising  vitality.  In  spite 
of  hard  treatment  and  some  neglect  it  seems  to 
gain  in  strength  and  purpose.  Certainly  the 
League  today,  with  all  the  manifold  activities 
which  it  is  initiating  and  guiding,  is  a far  differ- 
ent creature  from  the  feeble  offspring  which  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  so  laboriously  brought  into 
the  world.  For  one  thing  it  has  more  friends. 
Only  a handful  of  the  larger  powers  stood  spon- 
sor for  it  at  its  birth.  It  was  eyed  with  sus- 
picion by  the  smaller  nations.  Today  these 
smaller  nations  are  its  warmest  supporters,  and 
fifty-one  countries  are  now  enrolled  under  its 
standard,  representing  more  than  four-fifths  of 
the  world’s  population,  and  nearly  three-fourths 
of  its  area.  The  list  of  absentees  among  the  sup- 
porters of  the  League  is  more  easily  called  than 
the  roll  of  its  membership:  Abyssinia,  Afghan- 
istan, Ecuador,  Germany,  Hungary,  Iceland, 
Mexico,  Russia,  Turkey,  and  the  United  States. 

1 


The  League  of  Nations 


The  League  Brings  the  World  Together  in 
Conference 

But  it  is  not  size  alone  which  gives  the  League 
significance  or  which  has  brought  it  increasing 
vitality.  With  no  precedents  to  follow,  with  no 
traditions  to  bind  it,  the  League  has  struck  out 
boldly  in  a new  direction.  On  the  theory  that  if 
the  nations  of  the  world  can  get  together  for  dis- 
cussion around  a common  table,  many  of  the  con- 
flicts of  interest  and  misunderstandings  of  pur- 
pose can  be  reconciled  and  smoothed  away,  and 
many  of  the  outstanding  problems  which  confront 
all  nations  alike  can  be  overcome,  the  League  has 
built  up  machinery  for  international  conference 
such  as  no  previous  generation  has  possessed. 
And  the  machinery  is  working.  However  the 
enemies  of  the  League  may  scoff  at  its  imprac- 
ticable purposes,  the  fact  remains  that  through 
the  machinery  which  the  League  has  brought  into 
being,  the  nations  are  today  sitting  in  confer- 
ence on  their  common  problems  to  a degree  un- 
dreamed of  a decade  ago.  Whatever  mistakes 
may  have  been  made  in  the  formation  of  the 
League — and  they  were  not  a few — within  two 
years  of  its  birth  it  has  proved  itself  successful 
as  an  instrument  for  drawing  the  world  together 
in  common  counsel. 

The  bare  list  of  some  of  the  conferences  which 
the  League  has  promoted  is  evidence  of  this  suc- 
cess. The  Assembly,  which  is  the  keystone  of 
the  whole  organization,  because  it  represents  all 
the  nations  sitting  around  a table,  is  holding  its 
third  annual  meeting  in  Geneva  in  September. 
The  League’s  Council,  representing  eight  states, 
has  held  nineteen  sessions.  The  International 
Labor  Conference,  with  its  representatives  from 
fifty-four  nations,  held  its  third  annual  confer- 

2 


After  Two  Years 


ence  last  October.  The  Paris  passport  confer- 
ence, attended  by  twenty-two  nations,  was  called 
by  the  League  in  1920  to  promote  the  expedition 
of  international  travel.  Forty-three  nations  met 
in  Barcelona  in  1921  to  discuss  problems  relating 
to  communications  and  transit,  and  to  clear  the 
channels  of  international  business.  Thirty-five 
nations  came  together  in  Brussels  in  1920  to 
consider  the  international  financial  situation.  In 
Geneva  last  year  thirty  nations  conferred  on 
methods  for  suppressing  the  international  traffic 
in  women  and  girls.  In  Warsaw  this  spring 
twenty-seven  nations  considered  ways  and  means 
of  dealing  with  the  international  menace  of  the 
typhus  epidemic.  In  addition  to  these  more 
formal  gatherings  the  League  has  promoted  a 
steady  succession  of  international  conferences 
and  committee  meetings  to  deal  with  a great  va- 
riety of  problems,  such  as  the  standardization  of 
international  statistics,  the  suppression  of  the 
international  traffic  in  opium,  the  unification  of 
standards  of  anti-toxic  sera,  the  feeding  of  Rus- 
sian refugees,  the  return  of  prisoners  of  war,  the 
reduction  of  armaments,  the  private  manufacture 
of  arms,  the  deportation  of  women  and  children 
in  Asia  Minor,  and  a score  of  other  topics  which 
represent  the  legitimate  concern  not  of  one  na- 
tion, but  of  the  family  of  nations. 

In  brief,  for  two  years  the  world  has  been 
slowly  developing  the  tradition  of  conference;  it 
has  been  learning,  in  some  measure  at  least,  the 
value  of  common  counsel.  No  one  could  claim 
that  the  lesson  is  perfectly  learned;  only  the  be- 
ginning has  been  made.  But  at  least  it  is  a be- 
ginning. It  marks  a new  train  of  thought,  a new 
method  of  approach,  a new  habit.  With  practice 
and  patience  to  sustain  it,  who  knows  but  that 
this  habit  of  conference  may  become  so  inti- 

3 


The  League  of  Nations 


mately  a part  of  the  world’s  mental  processes 
that  it  will  gradually  supplant  the  old  order  of 
misunderstanding  and  conflict? 

Permanent  Machinery  for  Conference  vs. 

Temporary  Machinery 

The  League’s  emphasis  upon  conference  has  a 
further  significance.  Much  of  the  machinery 
which  it  has  built  to  promote  this  activity  is  per- 
manent. The  Assembly,  the  Council  and  the  Sec- 
retariat represent  a method  of  continuous  inter- 
national conference  on  any  problem  that  may 
arise,  as  opposed  to  ad  hoc  conferences  called  to 
consider  specific  matters.  In  other  words,  while 
the  League  has  initiated  a variety  of  special  in- 
ternational conferences  on  topics  relating  to  its 
work,  it  has  also,  through  its  permanent  ma- 
chinery, the  capacity  to  focus  immediate  atten- 
tion on  any  difficulty  that  can  threaten  the  peace 
of  the  world. 

This  is  a point  of  no  small  importance.  Special 
conferences  like  those  recently  held  in  Washing- 
ton and  Genoa  have  their  legitimate  and  proper 
place  in  the  regulation  of  the  world’s  affairs. 
Their  attention,  however,  is  necessarily  limited 
to  the  specific  purposes  for  which  they  were 
called ; when  their  business  is  concluded  they  ad- 
journ, and  nothing  remains  of  the  machinery 
which  they  erected.  They  create  no  organic,  con- 
tinuing relationships.  This  type  of  conference 
helps  the  world  along,  but  it  fails  the  world  in 
time  of  unexpected  crisis. 

For  ad  hoc  conferences  are  not  easily  or  quickly 
called  together.  The  date,  the  place,  the  mem- 
bership, and  the  agenda  must  be  agreed  upon  in 
advance.  The  first  Hague  Conference  was  not 
ready  until  nine  months  after  the  Czar’s  call. 


4 


After  Two  Years 


Over  two  years  elapsed  between  President  Roose- 
velt’s appeal  for  the  second  Hague  Conference 
and  its  opening  session.  Although  only  nine 
powers  met  at  the  Washington  Conference,  it 
took  four  months  of  preparation  before  the  first 
meeting  could  be  held.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
the  Jugoslav-Albanian  boundary  dispute  devel- 
oped last  year,  the  Council  of  the  League  met  in 
nine  days.  No  special  arrangements  were  neces- 
sary, no  protracted  negotiations  to  determine 
which  nations  should  or  should  not  be  included, 
or  what  the  diplomatic  procedure  should  be.  The 
machinery  was  already  set  up,  and  it  met  the 
emergency  swiftly  and  decisively,  stamping  out 
the  fire  before  it  could  spread. 

There  is  apparently  some  opinion  in  America 
that  a succession  of  special  conferences  like  the 
one  held  at  Washington  could  adequately  take  the 
place  of  the  League.  To  such  belief  it  would 
seem  as  if  memory  of  the  plight  of  Sir  Edward 
Grey  in  July,  1914,  would  be  a crushing  answer. 
For  over  two  weeks  he  fought  for  a conference 
as  the  one  hope  of  avoiding  the  impending  catas- 
trophe. In  that  limited  period,  with  the  flames 
mounting  higher  every  day,  he  tried  to  create  the 
necessary  machinery  that  would  bring  the  nations 
concerned  around  a common  table.  But  it  was 
too  late.  Time  was  lacking.  In  those  few  frantic 
days,  in  that  pitch  of  flame  and  heat,  the  ma- 
chinery could  not  be  devised  and  assembled.  The 
catastrophe  began  without  a single  conference. 
A handful  of  hasty,  misunderstood  telegrams 
plunged  the  world  into  the  greatest  tragedy  ever 
visited  upon  the  human  race. 

The  League’s  Permanent  Machinery 

That  is  why  some  kind  of  permanent  ma- 
chinery is  necessary,  some  international  organi- 

5 


The  League  of  Nations 


zation  ready  for  emergency.  That  is  why  the  As- 
sembly, the  Council  and  the  Court  of  Interna- 
tional Justice  constitute  the  outstanding  features 
of  the  League’s  program.  They  represent  pre- 
paredness. They  represent  a flexible  mechanism 
that  can  be  quickly  adapted  to  unexpected  situa- 
tions. True,  the  Assembly  meets  but  once  a 
year,  and,  because  of  its  size,  is  something  of  an 
unwieldy  body.  But  the  Council,  which  is  in 
reality  an  executive  committee,  meets  at  Geneva 
every  three  months,  and  oftener  if  necessary.  In- 
asmuch as  one-half  of  the  members  of  the  Council 
are  elected  by  the  Assembly,  it  is  fair  to  say 
that  the  Council  is  an  emanation  of  the  latter 
body,  and  is  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  af- 
fairs in  the  Assembly’s  absence.  Certainly  in 
the  two  years  of  its  existence,  the  Council  has 
not  hesitated  to  act  decisively  on  behalf  of  the 
League  in  the  settlement  of  international  discord 
and  the  promotion  of  common  understandings. 

In  this  connection,  the  relations  that  are  de- 
veloping between  the  Council  and  the  Assembly 
are  worthy  of  a moment’s  consideration.  The 
exact  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  bodies 
has  never  been  determined,  but  the  Council  has 
adopted  the  plan  of  presenting  to  each  session 
of  the  Assembly  a report  on  all  that  it  has  done 
during  the  year.  This  report  is  treated  in  the 
Assembly  as  an  opportunity  for  reviewing  in  open 
debate  the  whole  policy  of  the  League  and  the 
general  conduct  of  its  affairs  by  the  Council.  The 
last  meeting  of  the  Assembly  developed  some 
sharp  criticism  of  the  actions  of  the  Council 
from  a progressive  minority  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Lord  Robert  Cecil,  and  the  fact  that  the 
Council  has  this  year  studiously  endeavored  to 
shape  its  actions  to  meet  this  criticism  is  not 
without  importance.  Equally  significant  is  the 


o 


After  Two  Years 


unchallenged  assumption  of  responsibility  by  the 
Assembly  for  making  up  the  budget  and  author- 
izing the  expenditures  of  the  League.  Because 
of  its  personnel,  the  Council  may  at  present  pos- 
sess more  real  power  than  the  average  executive 
committee,  but  the  Assembly  holds  the  purse 
strings. 

As  time  goes  on  we  shall  undoubtedly  see  the 
respective  spheres  of  action  of  the  two  bodies  be- 
coming more  clearly  defined.  Indeed,  it  seems 
probable  that  something  in  the  nature  of  Cabinet 
responsibility  will  ultimately  develop  between  the 
Council  and  the  Assembly.  Certainly  in  the  evo- 
lution of  the  League  we  can  expect  many  changes 
in  its  methods  and  structure.  The  Covenant  of 
the  League  is  proving  to  be  as  elastic  and  pliable 
under  pressure  of  practical  experience  as  was 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  the 
decade  after  1789. 

A word  is  due  in  regard  to  the  Secretariat. 
Too  little  is  heard  of  this  branch  of  the  League’s 
organization,  but  it  is  scarcely  a secret  that  it 
is  the  moving  influence  behind  the  scenes.  Per- 
manently located  in  Geneva,  it  is  made  up  of  more 
than  three  hundred  people  from  over  a score  of 
nations,  who  are  working  together  not  as  na- 
tional representatives,  but  as  impartial  experts. 
Despite  differences  in  tongue,  race  and  tradition, 
this  medley  of  nationalities  does  its  work  quietly 
and  effectively,  provides  the  necessary  expert 
service,  prepares  for  all  meetings,  carries  on  the 
day-to-day  work  of  the  League,  and  executes  the 
decisions  of  the  Assembly  and  the  Council. 

The  Secretariat’s  organization,  consisting  of 
ten  sections,  is  illustrative  of  the  broad  sweep  of 
the  League’s  work  and  the  cosmopolitan  charac- 
ter of  its  personnel.  There  is  an  economic  and 

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The  League  of  Nations 


financial  section,  directed  by  an  Englishman; 
the  disarmament  section  is  directed  by  an 
Italian;  and  the  health  section  is  under  a Pole. 
The  section  for  administrative  commissions 
(Saar  Basin  and  Danzig)  is  under  a Norwegian, 
the  information  section  under  a Frenchman,  and 
the  legal  section  under  a Dutchman.  A Swiss 
manages  the  mandate  section,  and  an  English- 
woman the  section  on  social  questions.  The 
transit  and  political  sections  are  directed  respec- 
tively by  an  Italian  and  a Frenchman. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  citizens  of 
the  United  States  are  also  attached  to  the  Sec- 
retariat. The  librarian  is  an  American  woman; 
the  business  manager  (establishment  officer) 
comes  from  North  Dakota;  the  associate  head  of 
the  information  section  is  from  Massachusetts; 
while  the  assistant  to  the  head  of  the  administra- 
tive commissions  section  is  a New  Yorker.  Other 
Americans  are  attached  to  the  Secretariat  in 
minor  capacities. 

The  Court  of  International  Justice 

Of  all  the  machinery  which  the  League  has 
established  to  promote  the  cause  of  peace  noth- 
ing has  evoked  a larger  measure  of  interest  than 
the  Court  of  International  Justice.  Made  up  of 
eleven  judges  of  the  highest  professional  stand- 
ing— one  of  whom  is  an  American — chosen  re- 
gardless of  their  nationality  by  joint  action  of  the 
Council  and  Assembly  of  the  League,  it  crowns 
with  success  a whole  generation  of  determined 
effort.  Civilization  now  has  at  its  service  a per- 
manent world  court,  representing  all  the  great 
systems  of  international  law,  established  by  the 
suffrage  of  fifty-one  countries,  and  open  for  the 
settlement  of  disputes  between  nations  on  the 
basis  of  justice.  Perhaps  the  matter  cannot  be 

8 


After  Two  Years 


better  stated  than  in  the  careful  words  of  Profes- 
sor Hudson  of  Harvard:  “If  there  is  such  a 
thing  in  political  science  as  a useful  invention — 
and  the  establishment  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  and  the  role  played  by  Lord  Dur- 
ham’s report  in  the  development  of  the  British 
Empire  encourage  the  belief  that  political  science 
is  not  unlike  physical  science  in  this  respect — 
then  the  builders  of  this  new  court  would  seem  to 
have  made  a valuable  contribution  to  the  integra- 
tion of  international  society.” 

The  remark  is  occasionally  made  that  the 
League’s  Court  of  Justice  represents  nothing 
more  than  a reshaping  and  revivifying  of  the 
old  Hague  Court  of  Arbitration,  and  as  that  trib- 
unal failed  the  world  in  1914,  so  the  new 
tribunal  holds  out  no  greater  hope.  This  point 
of  view  involves  a complete  misconception  of  the 
differences  between  the  two  courts.  The  Hague 
Court  of  Arbitration  was  really  not  a court  at  all 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  It  was  merely 
a panel  of  135  international  lawyers  from  which 
judges  could  be  selected  by  disputant  states  that 
might  desire  to  submit  their  differences  to  arbi- 
tration. It  never  met  as  a body,  and  because 
its  members  served  only  in  the  particular  cases 
in  which  they  were  nominated  as  arbitrators,  it 
never  had  the  opportunity  of  building  up  a con- 
tinuous and  harmonious  system  of  international 
law. 

The  League’s  Court  of  Justice,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  its  fixed  personnel  elected  for  the  term 
of  nine  years,  with  salaries  ranging  from  $6,000 
to  $24,000  a year,  depending  on  the  days  of  actual 
service.  The  system  thus  affords  an  opportunity 
for  growth  in  judicial  experience  and  capacity, 
impossible  under  the  Hague  plan.  The  Court 

9 


The  League  of  Nations 


meets  at  least  once  a year,  in  June,  and  oftener 
if  necessary,  and  the  President  of  the  Court 
must  be  in  continuous  residence  at  The  Hague. 
In  other  words,  this  new  Court  completely  ful- 
fills the  almost  prophetic  instructions  which  Mr. 
Root,  then  Secretary  of  State,  gave  the  American 
delegates  to  the  Second  Hague  Conference  in 
1907 : they  were  to  endeavor  to  create  “a  per- 
manent tribunal  composed  of  judges  who  are 
judicial  officers  and  nothing  else,  who  are  paid 
adequate  salaries,  who  have  no  other  occupations, 
and  who  will  devote  their  entire  time  to  the  trial 
and  decision  of  international  causes  by  judicial 
methods  and  under  a sense  of  judicial  responsi- 
bility.” Failure  in  1907  came  when  the  nations 
could  not  agree  on  a method  of  selecting  the 
judges — a difficulty  overcome  seventeen  years 
later,  oddly  enough,  through  the  genius  and  per- 
sistence of  the  same  Mr.  Root. 

Another  distinction  between  the  Hague  Court 
of  Arbitration  and  the  League’s  Court  of  Justice 
is  even  more  significant,  though  it  can  be  touched 
upon  here  only  in  a word.  It  is  the  distinction 
between  arbitration  and  adjudication;  between  a 
settlement  by  compromise  and  a settlement  by 
means  of  the  application  of  fixed  and  certain 
principles.  It  involves  not  only  a new  emphasis 
on  international  law  and  custom  already  sanc- 
tioned by  the  conscience  of  mankind,  but  a steady 
and  systematic  development  of  that  law  and  cus- 
tom, based  on  the  progressive  judgments  of  the 
Court. 

A final  distinctive  feature  of  the  League’s 
Court  is  the  extent  to  which  its  jurisdiction  is 
compulsory.  While  this  feature  is  not  prescribed 
in  the  provisions  creating  it,  thus  far  eighteen 
nations  have  voluntarily  agreed  to  give  the  Court 

10 


After  Two  Years 


compulsory  jurisdiction  over  all  disputes  that 
may  arise  between  them.  Similar  jurisdiction 
has  likewise  been  conferred  in  a number  of  re- 
cent treaties,  notably  those  with  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, Hungary,  and  Bulgaria  relating  to  ports, 
waterways,  and  the  protection  of  minorities.  Al- 
together the  trend  is  in  the  direction  of  giving 
the  Court  of  Justice  the  same  competence  in  in- 
ternational disputes  which  dignifies  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  settlement  of 
our  own  internal  difficulties. 

What  Use  Has  the  League  Made  of  Its 
Machinery 

With  all  this  machinery  at  the  disposal  of  the 
League,  it  is  a fair  question  to  ask  what  has 
been  done  with  it.  The  primary  purpose  of  the 
machinery  is  to  settle  disputes  and  stop  war. 
Has  it  been  used  for  this  purpose,  and  if  so  with 
what  results? 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  Jugo- 
slav-Albanian  boundary  difficulty  which  suddenly 
loomed  like  a menacing  cloud  on  the  European 
horizon  in  the  summer  of  1921.  It  was  the  old 
story  of  aggression  such  as  has  been  repeated 
time  and  again  in  the  unhappy  history  of  the 
Balkans.  Dissatisfied  with  the  frontier  line  be- 
tween herself  and  Albania  which  had  been  under 
dispute  for  some  months,  Jugoslavia  resorted  to 
the  time-honored  principle  of  executing  a fait 
accompli:  she  sent  her  troops  across  the  line  and 
took  what  she  wanted. 

Here  was  a situation  which  under  the  old  dis- 
pensation would  have  upset  the  chancellories  of 
half  the  world  and  strained  the  diplomatic  rela- 
tions of  Europe  perhaps  to  the  breaking  point. 
It  was  a match  struck  in  a powder  mill.  The 

11 


The  League  of  Nations 


calamity  of  1914  started  in  very  much  the  same 
way.  But  there  was  a difference  between  1914 
and  1921.  In  the  former  year  there  had  been  no 
organization  of  nations,  no  plan,  no  procedure. 
In  1921  machinery  existed  for  just  such  an 
emergency.  The  machinery  was  new,  it  was  im- 
perfectly adjusted,  it  creaked  in  some  of  its 
joints  and  needed  lubrication.  But  at  least  there 
was  machinery,  and  it  could  run.  In  this  case  it 
ran  without  a fault.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  sent  a 
telegram  to  the  League  asking  for  an  immediate 
meeting  of  the  Council  and  suggesting  the  appli- 
cation of  an  economic  boycott  against  Jugoslavia. 
The  effect  of  the  telegram  was  electric.  Jugo- 
slavs exchange  tumbled  in  London  and  Paris. 
An  international  loan  which  Jugoslavia  was 
negotiating  was  immediately  withdrawn.  The 
Council  met  in  ten  days,  holding  its  meetings  in 
open  session.  And  Jugoslavia  backed  down. 
Within  a week  she  had  withdrawn  her  troops  be- 
hind her  own  frontier,  and  today  a League  Com- 
mission is  on  the  spot  in  Albania  working  out 
the  arrangements  for  peaceful  co-operation 
along  the  boundary. 

Why  did  Jugoslavia  so  suddenly  change  front? 
Not  a soldier  was  moved  against  her;  not  a 
single  battleship  fired  a shot  or  made  a demon- 
stration; there  was  not  even  a gesture  of  force. 
Jugoslavia  suddenly  awoke  to  the  fact  that  there 
was  a new  power  stirring  in  the  world,  the  power 
of  international  public  opinion,  backed  by  fifty 
nations,  and  working  through  centralized  ma- 
chinery. She  realized  that  a bull  of  excommuni- 
cation issued  from  such  a source  carried  with  it 
an  authority  which  could  not  be  defied.  Be- 
wildered by  the  new  machinery  and  protesting 
against  its  decree,  she  nevertheless  shaped  her 
course  to  avoid  ostracism  by  her  peers. 

12 


After  Two  Years 


The  Aaland  Islands  Dispute 

Another  dispute  brought  before  the  League 
was  a long-standing  quarrel  between  Finland  and 
Sweden  over  the  possession  of  the  Aaland  Islands. 
These  islands,  constituting  a small  archipelago 
lying  in  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  almost  midway  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  dominate  the  whole  east- 
ern Baltic.  They  were  claimed  by  Sweden 
because  their  population  is  overwhelmingly 
Swedish,  and  by  Finland  because  for  over  a hun- 
dred years  they  had  been  part  of  the  former 
Russian  Duchy  of  Finland. 

In  June,  1920,  the  tension  between  the  two 
countries  over  the  ownership  of  these  islands 
grew  alarmingly,  and  war  was  threatened  on 
both  sides.  Great  Britain  thereupon  made  use 
of  Article  XI  of  the  Covenant  which  declares  that 
any  nation  has  “the  friendly  right”  to  bring  to 
the  attention  of  the  League  any  circumstance 
threatening  to  disturb  international  peace.  Upon 
Great  Britain’s  initiative  the  Council  of  the 
League  appointed  an  independent  commission  of 
inquiry,  consisting  of  a Belgian,  a Swiss  and  an 
American,  “to  proceed  to  the  spot,  obtain  evi- 
dence, and  submit  a report.”  After  some  months 
of  investigation  in  which  both  sides  to  the  dis- 
pute presented  their  cases  at  length,  the  commis- 
sion decided  that  sovereignty  over  the  Aaland 
Islands  belonged  to  Finland.  The  Council  agreed 
to  the  report  which  was  freely  accepted  by  both 
the  contesting  nations,  and  the  final  act  was 
a ten-power  diplomatic  convention,  signed  at 
Geneva  under  the  auspices  of  the  League,  guar- 
anteeing Finland  in  possession,  providing  for 
the  neutralization  of  the  islands  from  a mili- 
tary point  of  view,  and  protecting  them  from 
losing  their  distinctive  characteristics  and  insti- 
tutions, particularly  the  Swedish  language. 

13 


The  League  of  Nations 


Here  again  there  was  no  bloodshed  and  no  co- 
ercion. A menace  to  the  peace  of  the  world  was 
averted  by  the  exercise  of  common  sense  work- 
ing through  very  simple  machinery.  The  method 
was  effective  not  because  it  represented  force, 
but  because  it  had  behind  it  the  moral  judgment 
of  civilization. 

The  Upper  Silesian  Difficulty 

A third  international  dispute  with  which  the 
League  had  dealt  was  the  Upper  Silesian  diffi- 
culty which  burst  into  flame  a year  ago  and  at 
one  time  threatened  the  renewal  of  general  war 
in  Europe.  It  arose  over  the  question  of  the 
boundary  line  between  Germany  and  Poland  in 
the  district  of  Upper  Silesia.  German  at  one 
end,  Polish  at  the  other,  and  hopelessly  mixed 
where  the  races  meet,  this  territory  contains  one- 
fourth  of  the  coal  supply  of  the  former  German 
Empire  and  constituted  before  1914  one  of  her 
most  flourishing  industrial  areas.  The  Treaty  of 
Versailles  found  the  problem  too  intricate  for 
immediate  solution  and  provided  for  a future 
plebiscite.  The  plebiscite  complicated  rather 
than  clarified  the  situation,  and  with  France 
backing  the  Polish  claims  and  England  behind  the 
German  claims,  and  Korfanty  lighting  the  fires 
of  insurrection  in  the  district  itself,  the  matter 
was  soon  at  white  heat.  The  Allied  Supreme 
Council,  upon  whom  rested  the  decision,  found 
itself  in  a state  of  hopeless  deadlock.  Neither 
Lloyd  George  nor  Briand  would  back  down.  The 
matter  was  rapidly  approaching  a breaking  point, 
when  suddenly  the  Allied  Supreme  Council 
handed  the  problem  to  the  League  and  agreed  to 
accept  any  decision  it  might  make. 

The  approach  which  the  Council  of  the  League 
made  to  the  dispute  brought  the  matter  at  once 

14 


After  Two  Years 


into  a new  atmosphere.  Because  England  and 
France  were  interested  parties  and  were  repre- 
sented on  the  Council,  investigation  and  decision 
were  left  to  the  four  members  of  the  Council  who 
came  from  the  smaller  states:  Belgium,  Spain, 
Brazil  and  China.  These  four  men  sitting  as  a 
committee  retained  experts  from  neutral  coun- 
tries to  advise  them  in  finance,  transportation 
and  mining  problems,  and  an  elaborate  study 
was  made  of  all  the  complicated  factors  of  the 
case.  The  decision,  which  was  immediately  ac- 
cepted by  the  Powers  of  Europe,  laid  down  a 
boundary  line  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  basis 
of  the  plebiscite,  taking  into  account  the  eco- 
nomic and  geographical  situation  of  the  district. 
In  order  to  preserve  the  industrial  unity  of  the 
territory,  certain  mutual  economic  guarantees 
were  recommended  which,  with  the  territorial  ar- 
rangements, have  just  been  put  into  the  form  of 
a German-Polish  convention,  negotiated  at 
Geneva  under  the  auspices  of  the  League.  Since 
the  decision  complete  calm  has  reigned  in  Upper 
Silesia,  and  with  the  signing  of  the  convention 
the  matter  is  now  a closed  issue. 

The  decision  of  the  League’s  Council  in  this 
boundary  dispute  has  been  severely  attacked  in 
some  quarters  on  the  ground  that  it  favored 
Poland  at  the  expense  of  Germany.  No  one  was 
wholly  satisfied  with  it,  not  even  the  Council 
members  who  drafted  it.  A careful  review  of 
the  matter  by  disinterested  observers,  however, 
seems  to  indicate  that  in  immensely  complicated 
circumstances  it  was  probably  the  best  decision 
possible.  Certainly  the  method  of  independent, 
impersonal  examination  of  a diplomatic  difficulty 
was  the  right  one,  even  if  in  some  of  its  details 
the  decision  was  erroneous.  In  any  event  there 

IS 


The  League  of  Nations 


is  peace  in  Upper  Silesia  and  Europe  has  been 
saved  from  war. 

The  War  Between  Poland  and  Lithuania 

One  further  demonstration  of  the  effectiveness 
of  the  League’s  machinery  in  settling  interna- 
tional disputes  remains  briefly  to  be  described. 
In  1920  the  Polish  Government  requested  the 
Council  of  the  League  to  endeavor  to  find  means 
of  averting  the  war  which  threatened  between 
Poland  and  Lithuania  concerning  the  Vilna  ter- 
ritory. As  a matter  of  fact  war  had  already  be- 
gun. Troops  were  on  the  march  and  skirmishes 
were  reported  from  both  sides.  Into  this  in- 
volved situation  the  League  sent  a special  com- 
mission. The  effect  was  almost  immediate.  The 
skirmishing  stopped  and  the  two  nations  entered 
into  negotiations.  At  this  moment  General 
Zeliogowski  at  the  head  of  some  irregular  Polish 
troops  complicated  matters  by  marching  into  the 
city  of  Vilna,  which  the  Lithuanians  claimed  as 
their  ancient  capital,  although  it  contained  a 
majority  of  Poles.  Repudiated  by  his  Govern- 
ment, he  nevertheless  remained  in  possession  of 
the  town. 

The  question  is  still  unsettled,  for  neither 
Poland  nor  Lithuania  has  been  willing  to  accept 
the  form  of  agreement  which  the  League’s  Coun- 
cil has  recommended.  Nevertheless  order  has 
been  maintained,  and  the  danger  of  war  is 
averted.  Undoubtedly  the  spirit  of  conciliation 
which  has  animated  the  Council  has  exercised  its 
influence  over  the  two  parties.  In  spite  of  the 
difficulties  which  still  separate  them,  their  rep- 
resentatives early  this  year  entered  into  a sol- 
emn engagement  before  the  Council  to  abstain 
in  the  future  from  any  act  of  hostility. 

16 


After  Two  Years 


In  these  four  cases  of  international  friction 
which  the  League  has  reconciled  during  its  first 
two  years,  one  point  stands  clearly  disclosed : the 
sole  authority  of  the  League  is  moral  force;  it 
rests  on  consent  and  not  on  coercion.  It  can  sug- 
gest but  cannot  necessarily  impose  a settlement. 
Its  victories  are  gained  not  by  arms  but  by  con- 
centration of  world  public  opinion.  If  in  the 
future  it  helps  to  maintain  peace,  it  will  be  not 
because  it  represents  an  overwhelming  combina- 
tion of  military  force,  but  because  by  slow  stages 
it  succeeds  in  gathering  up  the  moral  judgments 
of  mankind  in  one  powerful  shaft  of  light  and 
bringing  that  light  to  bear  on  instances  of  inter- 
national injustice. 

The  League  Attacks  the  Causes  of  War 

A society  of  nations  cannot  legitimately  con- 
tent itself  with  putting  out  the  fires  of  war  after 
they  have  once  been  kindled.  If  we  are  to  have 
real  assurance  in  the  future,  the  causes  of  war, 
the  materials  upon  which  the  flames  feed,  must 
in  so  far  as  is  humanly  possible  be  removed. 

Secret  diplomacy  and  secret  treaties  have  been 
recognized  over  many  years  as  potent  causes  of 
international  suspicion  and  uneasiness.  When 
the  Covenant  was  created,  therefore,  one  of  its 
clauses  stipulated  that  no  treaty  entered  into  by 
a member  of  the  League  was  valid  or  binding  un- 
less registered  and  published  by  the  League  of 
Nations.  In  pursuance  of  this  regulation  a treaty 
registration  section  has  been  established  at 
Geneva,  and  263  treaties  have  thus  far  been  re- 
ceived, affecting  practically  every  country  in  the 
world.  Published  in  five  volumes,  they  contain, 
some  of  them,  information  which  under  the  old 
order  would  have  been  carefully  shielded  from 
public  scrutiny. 


17 


The  League  of  Nations 


As  one  glances  through  these  volumes,  repre- 
senting in  concrete  form  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple that  the  nations  of  the  world  must  stand 
before  each  other  honestly  and  frankly,  one  is 
struck  by  the  fact  that  some  treaties  are  pub- 
lished in  which  the  United  States  is  a contract- 
ing party.  But  these  treaties  have  not  been  sent 
in  for  registration  by  our  State  Department; 
they  have  been  submitted  by  the  other  parties 
to  the  contract  that  happened  to  be  members  of 
the  League.  It  is  a significant  point  that  the 
treaties  growing  out  of  the  Washington  Confer- 
ence will  have  to  be  registered  and  published  by 
the  Secretariat  of  the  League  before  they  be- 
come binding  upon  the  other  powers. 

The  League  Works  for  Disarmament 

Another  potent  cause  of  war  to  which  of  late 
much  attention  has  been  given  is  to  be  found  in 
the  piling  up  of  armaments;  and  in  the  field  of 
disarmament  it  must  be  frankly  admitted  that 
the  League  has  secured  its  smallest  measure  of 
success.  Debarred  from  consideration  of  the 
question  of  naval  disarmament  by  the  absence 
of  the  United  States,  it  has  thus  far  found  itself 
handicapped  in  taking  up  the  problem  of  land 
armaments  by  the  same  influences  that  blocked 
the  discussion  of  this  question  in  Washington. 

Nevertheless  some  progress  has  been  made.  A 
powerful  committee,  called  the  temporary  mixed 
commission,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Lord 
Esher,  has  for  over  a year  been  at  work  with  an 
army  of  experts  on  an  exhaustive  statistical  in- 
quiry into  the  armaments  of  all  countries,  distin- 
guishing the  military  and  police  forces  necessary 
for  internal  security,  and  the  forces  necessary  for 
national  defense.  The  results  of  this  study  are 
not  yet  completed,  but  it  is  hoped  that  they  will 

18 


After  Two  Years 


be  ready  for  consideration  by  the  Assembly  at 
an  early  date.  Side  by  side  with  this  survey,  the 
League  has  taken  up  the  question  of  the  private 
manufacture  and  traffic  in  arms,  to  see  what  can 
be  done  to  break  up  the  connection  between  pri- 
vate enterprise  and  war.  As  long  as  American 
munition  manufacturers  are  at  liberty  to  ship 
arms  into  Abyssinia,  for  example,  that  part  of 
the  world  is  not  free  from  menace.  On  these 
complicated  questions  an  international  confer- 
ence has  been  called  by  the  League  to  meet,  if 
possible,  before  the  close  of  1922. 

Altogether  it  seems  probable  that  the  splendid 
momentum  achieved  by  the  Washington  Confer- 
ence will  perhaps  in  the  course  of  two  or  three 
years  be  carried  forward  to  even  larger  results 
through  the  machinery  of  the  League.  At  least 
the  machinery  is  in  existence,  ready  to  be  used. 

Tackling  the  Problem  of  International 
Co-operation 

The  mere  maintenance  of  peace,  however,  is 
not  the  sole  aim  of  a real  society  of  nations. 
Peace  is  rather  the  starting  point  of  interna- 
tional co-operation,  the  beginning  of  common  re- 
sponsibilities jointly  assumed.  The  matter  of 
mandated  territories  is  a case  in  point.  When 
the  Covenant  of  the  League  was  written  it  was 
agreed  that  the  German  and  Turkish  colonies, 
freed  from  their  former  sovereignty,  and  contain- 
ing thirteen  million  of  backward  people,  should 
not  become  the  spoils  of  their  conquerors,  but 
should  be  mandated  to  certain  powers,  to  be  ad- 
ministered, under  the  general  supervision  of  the 
League,  on  terms  that  would  fully  guarantee  the 
principle  of  non-exploitation,  and  safeguard  the 
natives  from  many  of  the  evils  that  have  so  often 
followed  upon  the  heels  of  colonization.  Thus 

19 


The  League  of  Nations 


the  mandatory  powers  become  “the  trustees  of 
civilization,”  responsible  to  the  League  for  their 
acts  and  policies,  and  obligated  to  submit  an  an- 
nual report  with  regard  to  the  territories  com- 
mitted to  their  charge. 

To  examine  these  reports  and  to  advise  the 
Council  on  all  matters  relating  to  the  observance 
of  mandates,  a permanent  Mandates  Commission 
has  been  appointed  by  the  League,  composed  of 
colonial  experts  who  serve  internationally,  most 
of  them  being  citizens  of  non-mandatory  nations. 
While  there  has  been  regrettable  delay  in  apply- 
ing the  system  of  mandates,  the  matter  is  now 
moving  forward,  and  mandatory  nations  like 
Great  Britain  in  Palestine,  Australia  and  New 
Zealand  in  the  islands  south  of  the  Equator,  and 
Japan  in  Yap  are  submitting  annual  reports  of 
their  stewardship  for  examination  and  review 
by  the  family  of  nations. 

The  League  Protects.  Racial  Minorities 

Another  phase  of  co-operative  work  which  the 
League  is  undertaking  has  to  do  with  the  protec- 
tion of  religious,  linguistic  and  ethnical  minori- 
ties isolated  in  the  midst  of  majorities  which  are 
alien  to  them.  Elaborate  provision  for  such  pro- 
tection has  been  written  into  all  the  recent  peace 
treaties  and  covers  the  whole  of  Eastern  Europe 
from  Finland  to  Greece;  and  the  League  of  Na- 
tions has  assumed  the  trusteeship.  Thus  the 
Council  of  the  League  has  been  able  to  settle  the 
dispute  between  Poland  and  Austria  with  regard 
to  the  Jews  who  came  from  Eastern  Galicia  into 
Austria  and  were  there  threatened  with  expul- 
sion; it  succeeded  in  obtaining  guarantees  for 
these  emigrants  from  both  governments.  It  also 
intervened,  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties,  in 

20 


After  Two  Years 


the  question  of  the  emigration  of  minorities  back 
and  forth  between  Greece  and  Bulgaria. 

Administration  of  Danzig  and  the  Saar 

Similarly  the  government  of  the  Saar  Valley 
Basin  and  of  Danzig,  committed  to  the  League  by 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  represents  a collective 
responsibility  which  civilization  has  assumed 
through  the  machinery  at  Geneva.  Because  these 
two  districts  promised  difficulties  for  the  future 
with  which  no  one  nation  could  wisely  cope,  they 
were  placed  under  international  control.  The 
governing  commission  of  the  Saar  which  the 
League  appointed  consists  of  a Belgian,  a 
Canadian,  a Dane,  a Frenchman  and  a Saarois; 
in  Danzig  an  Englishman  was  appointed  high 
commissioner.  Whatever  opinion  may  exist  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  isolating  the  Saar  Valley  Basin  or 
of  creating  the  Danzig  corridor,  there  can  be 
little  question  as  to  the  League’s  administration 
of  its  responsibility.  It  has  been  impartial  and 
conciliatory,  guided  by  considerations  of  justice 
and  fair  play  amid  conditions  almost  insuperably 
difficult.  Those  who  are  inclined  to  criticize  some 
of  the  details  of  the  League’s  administration  in 
these  two  fields  might  well  consider  what  condi- 
tions would  have  existed  if  instead  of  interna- 
tional control  France  had  had  full  play  in  the 
Saar  and  either  Poland  or  Germany  in  Danzig. 

Co-operation  in  Finance  and  Trade 

Another  illustration  of  international  co-opera- 
tion which  the  League  is  promoting  is  its  work 
in  the  general  field  of  economics  and  trade.  Here 
we  have  a maze  of  problems  which,  with  the  de- 
velopment of  modern  communications,  is  of  in- 
creasing concern  to  international  good-will.  The 
League,  therefore,  has  created  two  technical 

21 


The  League  of  Nations 


branches  to  handle  this  activity,  one  on  com- 
munications and  transit,  and  the  other  on  eco- 
nomics and  finance. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  paper 
to  outline  the  scope  of  the  work  of  these  two  or- 
ganizations. Manned  by  the  best  technical  ex- 
perts that  can  be  obtained,  drawing  on  practi- 
cally all  the  nations  of  the  world  for  information 
and  statistics,  they  have  succeeded  in  making  the 
League  a clearing  house  for  conference  and  pub- 
licity on  many  non-political  questions  which,  in 
themselves  unspectacular,  are  nevertheless  of 
vital  importance  to  the  daily  life  of  the  world. 
The  publications  and  bulletins  of  these  organi- 
zations on  matters  of  currency,  finance  and  trade 
are  eagerly  awaited,  and  constitute  an  approach 
to  these  problems  which  for  its  impersonal, 
scientific  spirit  is  unique  in  the  history  of  in- 
ternational co-operation.  It  was  the  work  of 
these  two  branches  that  laid  the  technical  basis 
for  the  conference  at  Genoa.  Through  their 
initiative,  too,  three  great  international  confer- 
ences have  been  held  under  the  direct  auspices 
of  the  League:  one  at  Brussels  in  1920  which 
first  served  to  dramatize  the  desperate  condition 
of  the  world’s  finances  and  which  brought  for- 
ward the  Ter  Meulen  Scheme  for  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  Austria;  one  at  Paris  which  simplified 
passport  and  customs  procedure  and  cleared  away 
many  of  the  annoying  obstacles  to  free  circula- 
tion ; and  one  at  Barcelona  which  laid  down  a new 
international  law  for  liberty  of  transit  in  con- 
nection with  trade,  and  freed  navigable  water- 
ways from  discriminatory  regulations. 

Another  conference,  to  be  held  in  1923,  will 
take  up  the  question  of  introducing  as  much  uni- 
formity as  possible  into  the  various  systems  of 

22 


After  Two  Years 


legislation  on  bills  of  exchange,  including  checks 
and  promissory  notes.  During  this  next  year, 
too,  extensive  studies  will  be  made  of  such  ques- 
tions as  the  reciprocal  treatment  of  foreign 
banks,  double  taxation,  arbitration  clauses  in 
commercial  contracts  between  citizens  of  differ- 
ent states,  unfair  competition,  lost,  stolen  or  de- 
stroyed securities,  and  the  fair  treatment  of 
commerce. 

The  International  Labor  Conference 

Somewhat  similar  to  the  two  technical  organi- 
zations we  have  just  mentioned  is  the  Interna- 
tional Labor  Conference  which,  though  not  a 
direct  part  of  the  League  machinery,  is  intimately 
associated  with  it  through  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  and  is  supported  financially 
by  League  funds.  Once  a year  the  states  mem- 
bers of  the  League,  and  such  other  states  as  may 
be  invited,  each  state  being  represented  by  four 
delegates,  meet  together  to  discuss  the  general 
problems  of  industrial  peace,  with  the  purpose  of 
stimulating  the  creation  of  better  working  and 
living  conditions  around  the  world.  In  the  in- 
terim between  these  meetings,  this  activity  is 
carried  forward  by  a permanent  secretariat  of 
250  people,  located  at  Geneva  and  called  the  In- 
ternational Labor  Office.  In  the  three  years  of 
its  existence  this  office  has  become  a great  clear- 
ing house  of  information  in  regard  to  all  labor 
and  industrial  movements,  and  its  documents 
and  reports  are  now  an  essential  part  of  every 
well-equipped  technical  library. 

The  International  Labor  Conference  has  a sig- 
nificance little  understood  in  the  United  States. 
Although  its  conclusions,  embodied  in  the  form 
of  conventions,  are  merely  submitted  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  member  states,  and  any  gov- 

23 


The  League  of  Nations 


ernment  is  free  to  reject  them,  it  nevertheless 
has  developed  a prestige  and  an  authority  suf- 
ficient to  set  in  motion  legislative  machinery  all 
over  the  world.  The  conventions  for  the  eight 
hour  day,  for  the  limitation  of  night  work,  for 
the  protection  of  women  and  children  in  industry, 
have  been  widely  adopted,  and  little  by  little 
these  minimum  labor  standards,  established  by 
the  Conference,  are  becoming  general  interna- 
tional practice,  and  the  more  liberal  countries  are 
being  protected  against  those  of  backward  labor 
legislation. 

Committee  on  Intellectual  Co-operation 

Another  activity  in  the  broad  field  of  interna- 
tional co-operation,  but  of  an  entirely  different 
type,  is  represented  by  the  committee,  recently 
appointed  by  the  Council  of  the  League,  to  sug- 
gest methods  for  bringing  together  the  universi- 
ties and  scientific  laboratories  of  the  world  in  a 
closer  bond  of  sympathy  and  understanding. 
Known  as  the  committee  on  intellectual  co-opera- 
tion, it  includes,  in  addition  to  a well-known 
American  scholar,  such  leaders  of  thought  as 
Professor  Einstein,  Mme.  Curie,  Henri  Bergson, 
and  Gilbert  Murray.  Although  its  plans  are  not 
yet  matured,  the  discussions  which  have  already 
taken  place  indicate  the  three  following  general 
lines  of  consideration : 

1.  The  possibility  of  encouraging  and  perfect- 
ing the  international  organization  of  scientific 
research. 

2.  International  relations  between  universi- 
ties, the  means  of  facilitating  the  exchange  of 
professors  and  students,  the  different  proposals 
for  organizing  an  international  universities’  bu- 
reau, and  perhaps  an  international  university. 

24 


After  Two  Years 


3.  The  international  organization  of  bibliogra- 
phies and  the  exchange  of  scientific  publications, 
questions  which  are  of  special  interest  to  coun- 
tries that  are  distant  from  the  great  intellectual 
centers. 

The  League’s  Campaign  Against  Disease 

There  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  field  of  interna- 
tional co-operation.  More  and  more  the  League 
of  Nations  is  developing  into  a repository  for  ac- 
tivities related  to  the  well-being  of  mankind 
which  cannot  successfully  be  prosecuted  by  indi- 
vidual nations. 

The  campaign  against  disease  is  a case  in 
point.  Disease  knows  no  boundaries  and  respects 
no  flags.  It  is  a common  enemy  of  mankind 
which  can  be  conquered  only  by  united  action.  As 
modern  methods  of  travel  bring  the  world  into 
increasingly  closer  relationships  such  action  be- 
comes imperative.  To  meet  this  need,  therefore, 
the  League  of  Nations  has  established  an  inter- 
national health  organization  which  has  brought 
together  the  brains  and  resources  of  the  entire 
world  in  a common  fight  on  disease. 

The  activities  of  this  organization  are  mani- 
fold. Operating  through  an  epidemics  commis- 
sion which  built  up  a sanitary  cordon  along  the 
entire  frontier,  it  successfully  checked  the  spread 
of  typhus  from  Russia  into  Eastern  Europe  in 
1920.  In  March  of  this  year  it  promoted  a great 
international  epidemics  conference  in  Warsaw 
attended  by  twenty-seven  nations,  including 
Soviet  Russia  and  Soviet  Ukraine,  which  laid 
down  a series  of  sanitary  conventions  and  pre- 
pared a detailed  plan  for  a united  campaign 
against  typhus.  Another  international  confer- 
ence was  held  under  its  auspices  in  London  to  de- 

25 


The  League  of  Nations 


termine  some  method  of  standardizing  the  meas- 
urement of  the  strength  of  anti-toxic  sera  used 
in  diseases  like  pneumonia,  diphtheria,  syphilis 
and  the  like.  This  conference  elaborated  a pro- 
gram of  inquiry  to  be  carried  out  by  the  great 
public  health  laboratories  of  the  world,  and  cen- 
tralized in  the  Copenhagen  Institute,  which  will 
act  as  a clearing  house  for  all  the  work. 

The  health  section  of  the  League  has  organ- 
ized, too,  an  epidemiological  intelligence  service, 
in  order  to  inform  all  national  health  authorities 
rapidly  and  effectively  of  the  incidence  of  epi- 
demic diseases.  Information  is  sent  out  at  least 
twice  every  three  weeks,  and  a regular  monthly 
bulletin  is  also  issued,  containing  statistics  and 
charts  on  the  incidence  all  over  the  world  of 
Asiatic  cholera,  typhus,  relapsing  fever,  dysen- 
tery, small-pox,  anthrax,  scurvy,  and  other  dis- 
eases. 

In  other  words,  a common  campaign,  backed 
by  the  financial  resources  and  moral  support  of 
fifty-one  nations,  is  being  scientifically  organized 
and  conducted  against  an  ancient  and  well-in- 
trenched enemy  of  the  race. 

The  Fight  Against  Opium  and  the  Traffic  in 
Women  and  Girls 

Another  campaign  organized  by  the  League 
has  to  do  with  the  international  commerce  in 
opium  and  its  derivatives.  Here  again,  a special 
branch  of  the  League  was  created,  called  the 
opium  commission,  including  in  its  membership 
among  others  a Japanese,  a Chinese,  a Siamese, 
an  Indian  and  an  American.  Two  international 
conferences  have  been  held  and  on  the  basis  of 
information  secured  from  practically  every  gov- 
ernment in  the  world  except  the  United  States, 

26 


After  Two  Years 


recommendations  for  united  action  have  been 
drawn  up  which  will  go  far  to  check  if  not  elim- 
inate this  devastating  traffic. 

The  international  traffic  in  women  and  girls 
is  another  great  problem  which  the  League  has 
taken  up.  Thirty  nations  met  in  Geneva  under 
its  auspices  in  1921  and  agreed  upon  a series  of 
changes  which  will  greatly  strengthen  the  exist- 
ing international  conventions.  A treaty  incor- 
porating these  changes  has  since  been  signed  by 
thirty-three  nations,  and  the  others  will  undoubt- 
edly soon  follow.  A special  advisory  committee, 
consisting  of  the  representatives  of  nine  nations, 
has  been  appointed  by  the  Council  of  the  League 
to  keep  in  touch  with  the  situation,  and  with 
the  League’s  machinery  behind  the  campaign, 
we  may  confidently  anticipate  the  steady  diminu- 
tion in  an  international  traffic  which  up  to  this 
time  has  baffled  the  best  efforts  of  individual 
nations. 


Other  Humanitarian  Activities 

Space  is  lacking  in  which  to  describe  all  the 
work  that  the  League  is  undertaking  in  the  gen- 
eral field  of  international  co-operation.  Under 
its  aegis,  with  Dr.  Nansen  acting  as  its  high 
commissioner,  400,000  prisoners  of  war  were  re- 
turned to  their  homes  at  a total  cost  of  about 
two  million  dollars.  Acting  on  the  advice  of  a 
special  commission  of  inquiry  which  it  sent  to 
Asia  Minor  to  look  into  the  question  of  the  im- 
prisonment of  Armenian  women  and  girls  in 
Turkish  harems,  it  appointed  a high  commis- 
sioner in  Constantinople — an  American,  inci- 
dentally; opened  a series  of  “neutral  houses”  to 
shelter  these  unfortunates;  and  persuaded  the 
Allied  military  officials  to  bring  the  matter 
strongly  to  the  attention  of  the  Turks.  Similarly, 

27 


The  League  of  Nations 


with  Dr.  Nansen  serving  again  as  high  commis- 
sioner, it  entered  upon  the  work  of  assisting  the 
thousands  of  Russian  refugees  driven  from  their 
own  land  by  famine  and  shifting  political  for- 
tunes. This  necessary  activity  is  still  under  way, 
backed  by  the  authority  and  influence  of  the 
Council. 

Week  by  week  the  League  is  extending  its  work 
along  these  general  humanitarian  lines,  using 
its  machinery  to  meet  those  human  needs  which 
overflow  national  boundaries.  If  in  these  un- 
controversial  matters  the  nations  of  the  world 
can  develop  the  technique  of  common  action  and 
acquire  the  habit  of  co-operation,  surely  when 
the  great  test  comes,  and  another  1914  throws 
down  its  ugly  challenge  to  mankind,  there  will  be 
a better  chance  for  sanity  and  self-control  and  a 
larger  hope  of  escape  from  a world  wreck  of  un- 
told proportions. 

The  League  the  Hope  of  the  Future 

This  then  is  the  League  of  Nations — not  a 
superstate,  backed  by  vast  armaments,  but  a 
simple  instrument  for  bringing  nations  together 
in  conference  around  a table.  Its  warmest 
friends  make  no  claim  of  perfection  for  it.  It 
cannot  bring  the  millennium.  It  cannot  immedi- 
ately allay  the  high  fever  of  present  interna- 
tional discord.  Its  weaknesses  are  apparent.  It 
is  powerless  to  solve,  or  even  deal  with,  some  of 
the  most  menacing  problems  that  confront  us. 

But  here  is  a co-operative  world  movement,  the 
first  of  its  kind  in  history,  constituting  a central 
rallying  point  around  which  the  forces  of  law 
and  peace  may  gather,  and  slowly  developing  new 
approaches  to  common  dangers  and  new  methods 
of  common  action.  During  its  first  two  years, 

28 


After  Two  Years 


in  a period  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  its  positive 
achievement  has  been  distinctly  creditable,  far 
wider  in  scope  and  greater  in  bulk  than  its  best 
friends  dreamed  possible.  In  spite  of  all  cyni- 
cism, all  gibes,  all  remorseless  criticism,  it  has 
become  a real  influence  in  the  world  and  has  won 
for  itself  a distinct  place  in  the  confidence  and 
hope  of  many  peoples.  That  confidence  will  not 
easily  be  shaken,  and  that  hope  is  a grim  and  de- 
termined hope,  for  if  the  League  proves  a blunt 
and  ineffective  instrument,  there  is  nothing 
ahead  of  us  except  despair  in  the  face  of  new 
wars. 


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